


No Need to Tell

by IfItHollers



Category: Harlots (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Charlotte has a pine marten, Gen, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Margaret has a glasswing butterfly, referenced daemon touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 18:21:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20139913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IfItHollers/pseuds/IfItHollers
Summary: Charlotte's daemon stops transforming. Margaret has plans, now her daughter's settled.





	No Need to Tell

For days after Charlotte begins to suspect, she keeps quiet. She doesn’t ask Amadi, so she does not know for sure; and if she does not know for sure, no one can accuse her of lying. In the meantime his body is long enough to drape over her neck and his pointed little face to rest just beside her throat. He looks like a fur stole a rich woman might wear. Her mother’s girls laugh to see Charlotte go about so, so she plays it up and lounges about as a lady. Her mother smiles only slightly with one corner of her mouth and then goes back to watching with her careful and canny eyes.

Two weeks later, Margaret Wells is no longer smiling.

She comes to Charlotte’s room in the morning before the business of the day begins. Her own daemon, a glasswing butterfly, rests atop her collarbone as a pendant. “All right, my girl, the time’s come. Amadi, show us something pretty or tell me the truth.”

“I am pretty, Ma.” Amadi rolls onto his back and stretches on the pillow beside Charlotte.

“Be straight with me, Charlotte.” Margaret’s eyes are hard. “Is this you, now and forever?”

Charlotte takes a deep breath, lowers her eyes, and says, “Yeah. I think so.”

Her honesty gets her only a small smile from her mother. She reaches up and touches her hand to her chest, so that her fingertips almost brush her daemon’s wings. “I was ten when we settled. You’ve had time. But you know what you must do now, don’t you?”

Another breath. Amadi twists over to disguise how he wants to tremble and instead climbs into her lap to touch his nose to her fingers.

Charlotte looks down at his soft brown head. “Yes, Ma.”

“That’s right. It’s time. You’re my own sweet girl now, but you’ll be a Wells woman. You’ll be like me, but better. You’ll be the brightest star in London’s sky.” She smiles at Amadi. “You’re beautiful. The culls will be lining up for a chance to stroke you.”

Charlotte steels herself, lifts her chin, and smiles. “And we’ll knock them down, one by one.”

Amadi leaps up to her shoulder and twines around her throat. Charlotte wears a shawl like her mother wears a necklace.

“That’s my girl.” Margaret reaches out and strokes her hair. “If you want the best, you must take it.”


End file.
